L-19 Bird Dog, 27% scale from Hostetler Plans, 116" span
The finish line for my Astro-Hog rescue & re-build is in sight, so I need to load up on balsa for another build. This one will be my most ambitious and largest build yet, a 27% scale Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. At 116" span the wing is about a foot longer than the big 1/4 scale Sig Cub I did, and the fuselage is at least that much longer as well.
This isn't my first L-19, I did a build thread on one HERE, although it was a much smaller. Building big has really consumed me lately, and I'm glad my wife is either very understanding or not very observant and hasn't said anything about the quickly growing collection of planes!
Here's a full-scale version of what I'm going to build:
This is the fuselage for the L-19 I previously built, sitting on the fuselage plan page for the new one. As David would say, "It's HUUUUUUUUUGE!" Power will be a 50-ish cc gasser.
(Stock photo from Hostetler's website)
Looking through the two giant plan pages (each is about 36" x 96") I found a list of materials needed for each area of the build. This is nice, since if I build it section by section I won't completely de-forest a small nation! I'm going to start with the fuselage, vertical stab, and rudder.
This is far from a good plan for a beginner! There is no printed manual or step-by-step instructions, only the diagrams and a few pictures. I guess some would call it a "builder's kit". It takes a little time looking at the drawings, but eventually I figure it out. Hopefully!
He also includes suppliers for the important add-ons, like the cowl and gear.
I've got wood! So as stated, I'm starting with the fuselage and vertical surfaces, and here's the wood just for that. From Balsa USA it was just over $100 and arrived in two working days, not too bad! It's not cheap, but should give me a lot of building pleasure and is far cheaper in the long run than booze and hookers. After the fuse is about done I'll order up the wood for the wing. I'll also need to decide how much detail I'm going to add. I know I want landing lights, and probably navigation lights, but we'll see what else "must" be included.
The finish line for my Astro-Hog rescue & re-build is in sight, so I need to load up on balsa for another build. This one will be my most ambitious and largest build yet, a 27% scale Cessna L-19 Bird Dog. At 116" span the wing is about a foot longer than the big 1/4 scale Sig Cub I did, and the fuselage is at least that much longer as well.
This isn't my first L-19, I did a build thread on one HERE, although it was a much smaller. Building big has really consumed me lately, and I'm glad my wife is either very understanding or not very observant and hasn't said anything about the quickly growing collection of planes!
Here's a full-scale version of what I'm going to build:
This is the fuselage for the L-19 I previously built, sitting on the fuselage plan page for the new one. As David would say, "It's HUUUUUUUUUGE!" Power will be a 50-ish cc gasser.
(Stock photo from Hostetler's website)
Looking through the two giant plan pages (each is about 36" x 96") I found a list of materials needed for each area of the build. This is nice, since if I build it section by section I won't completely de-forest a small nation! I'm going to start with the fuselage, vertical stab, and rudder.
This is far from a good plan for a beginner! There is no printed manual or step-by-step instructions, only the diagrams and a few pictures. I guess some would call it a "builder's kit". It takes a little time looking at the drawings, but eventually I figure it out. Hopefully!
He also includes suppliers for the important add-ons, like the cowl and gear.
I've got wood!
So as stated, I'm starting with the fuselage and vertical surfaces, and here's the wood just for that. From Balsa USA it was just over $100 and arrived in two working days, not too bad! It's not cheap, but should give me a lot of building pleasure and is far cheaper in the long run than booze and hookers. After the fuse is about done I'll order up the wood for the wing. I'll also need to decide how much detail I'm going to add. I know I want landing lights, and probably navigation lights, but we'll see what else "must" be included.
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